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TIL about 'The Lost Year.' On September 12, 1958 Gov. Faubus closed all Little Rock, Arkansas high schools for a year rather than allowing desegregation to continue. Teachers and administrators were required to fulfill their contractual obligations and appear for work in empty schools.

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69mP7 TIL that all London taxi drivers must take the Knowledge of London test. This involves memorizing nearly every street within a six-mile radius of central London. It also includes learning the blue book which lists 320 routes that must be memorized from start to finish. It takes up to 3 years to do.
aajA TIL that Toys R Us started the initiative of a ‘quiet hour’ in all its stores in the UK,last Christmas. The initiative involved temporarily dimming the lights and switching off music and announcements, in order to help the autistic children shop for Christmas.
wL7m1 TIL The Soviet Union created one of the few GEV's (Ground Effect Vehicle), called the Ekranoplan, that was actually meant to be used for military reasons until it sank to the bottom of the Caspian Sea.
85BX TIL that after the 1628 Batavia disaster, two dutch sailors were left to die in Australia…or so everyone thought. A century later, British settlers found unusually light-skinned Aborigines in the area that suggest the two marooned sailors may have actually thrived instead.
dpNQ TIL Mr. Hankey from South Park was inspired by Trey Parker’s Father who told him that if he didn’t flush the toilet, Mr. Hankey would come out and eat him